Shortest distance between a point and a line segme

Question

I need a basic function to find the shortest distance between a point and a line segment. Feel free to write the solution in any language you want; I can translate it into what I'm using (Javascript).

EDIT: My line segment is defined by two endpoints. So my line segment AB is defined by the two points A (x1,y1) and B (x2,y2). I'm trying to find the distance between this line segment and a point C (x3,y3). My geometry skills are rusty, so the examples I've seen are confusing, I'm sorry to admit.

Answer 1

This is an implementation made for FINITE LINE SEGMENTS, not infinite lines like most other functions here seem to be (that's why I made this).

Example is here.

Python:

import math

def dist(x1,y1, x2,y2, x3,y3): # x3,y3 is the point
    px = x2-x1
    py = y2-y1

    something = px*px + py*py

    u =  ((x3 - x1) * px + (y3 - y1) * py) / float(something)

    if u > 1:
        u = 1
    elif u < 0:
        u = 0

    x = x1 + u * px
    y = y1 + u * py

    dx = x - x3
    dy = y - y3

    # Note: If the actual distance does not matter,
    # if you only want to compare what this function
    # returns to other results of this function, you
    # can just return the squared distance instead
    # (i.e. remove the sqrt) to gain a little performance

    dist = math.sqrt(dx*dx + dy*dy)

    return dist

AS3:

public static function segmentDistToPoint(segA:Point, segB:Point, p:Point):Number
{
    var p2:Point = new Point(segB.x - segA.x, segB.y - segA.y);
    var something:Number = p2.x*p2.x + p2.y*p2.y;
    var u:Number = ((p.x - segA.x) * p2.x + (p.y - segA.y) * p2.y) / something;

    if (u > 1)
        u = 1;
    else if (u < 0)
        u = 0;

    var x:Number = segA.x + u * p2.x;
    var y:Number = segA.y + u * p2.y;

    var dx:Number = x - p.x;
    var dy:Number = y - p.y;

    var dist:Number = Math.sqrt(dx*dx + dy*dy);

    return dist;
}

Java

private double shortestDistance(float x1,float y1,float x2,float y2,float x3,float y3)
    {
        float px=x2-x1;
        float py=y2-y1;
        float temp=(px*px)+(py*py);
        float u=((x3 - x1) * px + (y3 - y1) * py) / (temp);
        if(u>1){
            u=1;
        }
        else if(u<0){
            u=0;
        }
        float x = x1 + u * px;
        float y = y1 + u * py;

        float dx = x - x3;
        float dy = y - y3;
        double dist = Math.sqrt(dx*dx + dy*dy);
        return dist;

    }

These were made from this.

Answer 2

And now my solution as well...... (Javascript)

It is very fast because I try to avoid any Math.pow functions.

As you can see, at the end of the function I have the distance of the line.

code is from the lib http://www.draw2d.org/graphiti/jsdoc/#!/example

/**
 * Static util function to determine is a point(px,py) on the line(x1,y1,x2,y2)
 * A simple hit test.
 * 
 * @return {boolean}
 * @static
 * @private
 * @param {Number} coronaWidth the accepted corona for the hit test
 * @param {Number} X1 x coordinate of the start point of the line
 * @param {Number} Y1 y coordinate of the start point of the line
 * @param {Number} X2 x coordinate of the end point of the line
 * @param {Number} Y2 y coordinate of the end point of the line
 * @param {Number} px x coordinate of the point to test
 * @param {Number} py y coordinate of the point to test
 **/
graphiti.shape.basic.Line.hit= function( coronaWidth, X1, Y1,  X2,  Y2, px, py)
{
  // Adjust vectors relative to X1,Y1
  // X2,Y2 becomes relative vector from X1,Y1 to end of segment
  X2 -= X1;
  Y2 -= Y1;
  // px,py becomes relative vector from X1,Y1 to test point
  px -= X1;
  py -= Y1;
  var dotprod = px * X2 + py * Y2;
  var projlenSq;
  if (dotprod <= 0.0) {
      // px,py is on the side of X1,Y1 away from X2,Y2
      // distance to segment is length of px,py vector
      // "length of its (clipped) projection" is now 0.0
      projlenSq = 0.0;
  } else {
      // switch to backwards vectors relative to X2,Y2
      // X2,Y2 are already the negative of X1,Y1=>X2,Y2
      // to get px,py to be the negative of px,py=>X2,Y2
      // the dot product of two negated vectors is the same
      // as the dot product of the two normal vectors
      px = X2 - px;
      py = Y2 - py;
      dotprod = px * X2 + py * Y2;
      if (dotprod <= 0.0) {
          // px,py is on the side of X2,Y2 away from X1,Y1
          // distance to segment is length of (backwards) px,py vector
          // "length of its (clipped) projection" is now 0.0
          projlenSq = 0.0;
      } else {
          // px,py is between X1,Y1 and X2,Y2
          // dotprod is the length of the px,py vector
          // projected on the X2,Y2=>X1,Y1 vector times the
          // length of the X2,Y2=>X1,Y1 vector
          projlenSq = dotprod * dotprod / (X2 * X2 + Y2 * Y2);
      }
  }
    // Distance to line is now the length of the relative point
    // vector minus the length of its projection onto the line
    // (which is zero if the projection falls outside the range
    //  of the line segment).
    var lenSq = px * px + py * py - projlenSq;
    if (lenSq < 0) {
        lenSq = 0;
    }
    return Math.sqrt(lenSq)<coronaWidth;
};

Answer 3

For the lazy, here's my Objective-C port of @Grumdrig's solution above:

CGFloat sqr(CGFloat x) { return x*x; }
CGFloat dist2(CGPoint v, CGPoint w) { return sqr(v.x - w.x) + sqr(v.y - w.y); }
CGFloat distanceToSegmentSquared(CGPoint p, CGPoint v, CGPoint w)
{
    CGFloat l2 = dist2(v, w);
    if (l2 == 0.0f) return dist2(p, v);

    CGFloat t = ((p.x - v.x) * (w.x - v.x) + (p.y - v.y) * (w.y - v.y)) / l2;
    if (t < 0.0f) return dist2(p, v);
    if (t > 1.0f) return dist2(p, w);
    return dist2(p, CGPointMake(v.x + t * (w.x - v.x), v.y + t * (w.y - v.y)));
}
CGFloat distanceToSegment(CGPoint point, CGPoint segmentPointV, CGPoint segmentPointW)
{
    return sqrtf(distanceToSegmentSquared(point, segmentPointV, segmentPointW));
}

Answer 4

coded in t-sql

the point is (@px, @py) and the line segment runs from (@ax, @ay) to (@bx, @by)

create function fn_sqr (@NumberToSquare decimal(18,10)) 
returns decimal(18,10)
as 
begin
    declare @Result decimal(18,10)
    set @Result = @NumberToSquare * @NumberToSquare
    return @Result
end
go

create function fn_Distance(@ax decimal (18,10) , @ay decimal (18,10), @bx decimal(18,10),  @by decimal(18,10)) 
returns decimal(18,10)
as
begin
    declare @Result decimal(18,10)
    set @Result = (select dbo.fn_sqr(@ax - @bx) + dbo.fn_sqr(@ay - @by) )
    return @Result
end
go

create function fn_DistanceToSegmentSquared(@px decimal(18,10), @py decimal(18,10), @ax decimal(18,10), @ay decimal(18,10), @bx decimal(18,10), @by decimal(18,10)) 
returns decimal(18,10)
as 
begin
    declare @l2 decimal(18,10)
    set @l2 = (select dbo.fn_Distance(@ax, @ay, @bx, @by))
    if @l2 = 0
        return dbo.fn_Distance(@px, @py, @ax, @ay)
    declare @t decimal(18,10)
    set @t = ((@px - @ax) * (@bx - @ax) + (@py - @ay) * (@by - @ay)) / @l2
    if (@t < 0) 
        return dbo.fn_Distance(@px, @py, @ax, @ay);
    if (@t > 1) 
        return dbo.fn_Distance(@px, @py, @bx, @by);
    return dbo.fn_Distance(@px, @py,  @ax + @t * (@bx - @ax),  @ay + @t * (@by - @ay))
end
go

create function fn_DistanceToSegment(@px decimal(18,10), @py decimal(18,10), @ax decimal(18,10), @ay decimal(18,10), @bx decimal(18,10), @by decimal(18,10)) 
returns decimal(18,10)
as 
begin
    return sqrt(dbo.fn_DistanceToSegmentSquared(@px, @py , @ax , @ay , @bx , @by ))
end
go

--example execution for distance from a point at (6,1) to line segment that runs from (4,2) to (2,1)
select dbo.fn_DistanceToSegment(6, 1, 4, 2, 2, 1) 
--result = 2.2360679775

--example execution for distance from a point at (-3,-2) to line segment that runs from (0,-2) to (-2,1)
select dbo.fn_DistanceToSegment(-3, -2, 0, -2, -2, 1) 
--result = 2.4961508830

--example execution for distance from a point at (0,-2) to line segment that runs from (0,-2) to (-2,1)
select dbo.fn_DistanceToSegment(0,-2, 0, -2, -2, 1) 
--result = 0.0000000000

Answer 5

Looks like just about everyone else on StackOverflow has contributed an answer (23 answers so far), so here's my contribution for C#. This is mostly based on the answer by M. Katz, which in turn is based on the answer by Grumdrig.

   public struct MyVector
   {
      private readonly double _x, _y;


      // Constructor
      public MyVector(double x, double y)
      {
         _x = x;
         _y = y;
      }


      // Distance from this point to another point, squared
      private double DistanceSquared(MyVector otherPoint)
      {
         double dx = otherPoint._x - this._x;
         double dy = otherPoint._y - this._y;
         return dx * dx + dy * dy;
      }


      // Find the distance from this point to a line segment (which is not the same as from this 
      //  point to anywhere on an infinite line). Also returns the closest point.
      public double DistanceToLineSegment(MyVector lineSegmentPoint1, MyVector lineSegmentPoint2,
                                          out MyVector closestPoint)
      {
         return Math.Sqrt(DistanceToLineSegmentSquared(lineSegmentPoint1, lineSegmentPoint2, 
                          out closestPoint));
      }


      // Same as above, but avoid using Sqrt(), saves a new nanoseconds in cases where you only want 
      //  to compare several distances to find the smallest or largest, but don't need the distance
      public double DistanceToLineSegmentSquared(MyVector lineSegmentPoint1, 
                                              MyVector lineSegmentPoint2, out MyVector closestPoint)
      {
         // Compute length of line segment (squared) and handle special case of coincident points
         double segmentLengthSquared = lineSegmentPoint1.DistanceSquared(lineSegmentPoint2);
         if (segmentLengthSquared < 1E-7f)  // Arbitrary "close enough for government work" value
         {
            closestPoint = lineSegmentPoint1;
            return this.DistanceSquared(closestPoint);
         }

         // Use the magic formula to compute the "projection" of this point on the infinite line
         MyVector lineSegment = lineSegmentPoint2 - lineSegmentPoint1;
         double t = (this - lineSegmentPoint1).DotProduct(lineSegment) / segmentLengthSquared;

         // Handle the two cases where the projection is not on the line segment, and the case where 
         //  the projection is on the segment
         if (t <= 0)
            closestPoint = lineSegmentPoint1;
         else if (t >= 1)
            closestPoint = lineSegmentPoint2;
         else 
            closestPoint = lineSegmentPoint1 + (lineSegment * t);
         return this.DistanceSquared(closestPoint);
      }


      public double DotProduct(MyVector otherVector)
      {
         return this._x * otherVector._x + this._y * otherVector._y;
      }

      public static MyVector operator +(MyVector leftVector, MyVector rightVector)
      {
         return new MyVector(leftVector._x + rightVector._x, leftVector._y + rightVector._y);
      }

      public static MyVector operator -(MyVector leftVector, MyVector rightVector)
      {
         return new MyVector(leftVector._x - rightVector._x, leftVector._y - rightVector._y);
      }

      public static MyVector operator *(MyVector aVector, double aScalar)
      {
         return new MyVector(aVector._x * aScalar, aVector._y * aScalar);
      }

      // Added using ReSharper due to CodeAnalysis nagging

      public bool Equals(MyVector other)
      {
         return _x.Equals(other._x) && _y.Equals(other._y);
      }

      public override bool Equals(object obj)
      {
         if (ReferenceEquals(null, obj)) return false;
         return obj is MyVector && Equals((MyVector) obj);
      }

      public override int GetHashCode()
      {
         unchecked
         {
            return (_x.GetHashCode()*397) ^ _y.GetHashCode();
         }
      }

      public static bool operator ==(MyVector left, MyVector right)
      {
         return left.Equals(right);
      }

      public static bool operator !=(MyVector left, MyVector right)
      {
         return !left.Equals(right);
      }
   }

And here's a little test program.

   public static class JustTesting
   {
      public static void Main()
      {
         Stopwatch stopwatch = new Stopwatch();
         stopwatch.Start();

         for (int i = 0; i < 10000000; i++)
         {
            TestIt(1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0.70710678118654757);
            TestIt(5, 4, 0, 0, 20, 10, 1.3416407864998738);
            TestIt(30, 15, 0, 0, 20, 10, 11.180339887498949);
            TestIt(-30, 15, 0, 0, 20, 10, 33.541019662496844);
            TestIt(5, 1, 0, 0, 10, 0, 1.0);
            TestIt(1, 5, 0, 0, 0, 10, 1.0);
         }

         stopwatch.Stop();
         TimeSpan timeSpan = stopwatch.Elapsed;
      }


      private static void TestIt(float aPointX, float aPointY, 
                                 float lineSegmentPoint1X, float lineSegmentPoint1Y, 
                                 float lineSegmentPoint2X, float lineSegmentPoint2Y, 
                                 double expectedAnswer)
      {
         // Katz
         double d1 = DistanceFromPointToLineSegment(new MyVector(aPointX, aPointY), 
                                              new MyVector(lineSegmentPoint1X, lineSegmentPoint1Y), 
                                              new MyVector(lineSegmentPoint2X, lineSegmentPoint2Y));
         Debug.Assert(d1 == expectedAnswer);

         /*
         // Katz using squared distance
         double d2 = DistanceFromPointToLineSegmentSquared(new MyVector(aPointX, aPointY), 
                                              new MyVector(lineSegmentPoint1X, lineSegmentPoint1Y), 
                                              new MyVector(lineSegmentPoint2X, lineSegmentPoint2Y));
         Debug.Assert(Math.Abs(d2 - expectedAnswer * expectedAnswer) < 1E-7f);
          */

         /*
         // Matti (optimized)
         double d3 = FloatVector.DistanceToLineSegment(new PointF(aPointX, aPointY), 
                                                new PointF(lineSegmentPoint1X, lineSegmentPoint1Y), 
                                                new PointF(lineSegmentPoint2X, lineSegmentPoint2Y));
         Debug.Assert(Math.Abs(d3 - expectedAnswer) < 1E-7f);
          */
      }

      private static double DistanceFromPointToLineSegment(MyVector aPoint, 
                                             MyVector lineSegmentPoint1, MyVector lineSegmentPoint2)
      {
         MyVector closestPoint;  // Not used
         return aPoint.DistanceToLineSegment(lineSegmentPoint1, lineSegmentPoint2, 
                                             out closestPoint);
      }

      private static double DistanceFromPointToLineSegmentSquared(MyVector aPoint, 
                                             MyVector lineSegmentPoint1, MyVector lineSegmentPoint2)
      {
         MyVector closestPoint;  // Not used
         return aPoint.DistanceToLineSegmentSquared(lineSegmentPoint1, lineSegmentPoint2, 
                                                    out closestPoint);
      }
   }

As you can see, I tried to measure the difference between using the version that avoids the Sqrt() method and the normal version. My tests indicate you can maybe save about 2.5%, but I'm not even sure of that - the variations within the various test runs were of the same order of magnitude. I also tried measuring the version posted by Matti (plus an obvious optimization), and that version seems to be about 4% slower than the version based on Katz/Grumdrig code.

Edit: Incidentally, I've also tried measuring a method that finds the distance to an infinite line (not a line segment) using a cross product (and a Sqrt()), and it's about 32% faster.

Answer 6

Grumdrig's C++/JavaScript implementation was very useful to me, so I have provided a Python direct port that I am using. The complete code is here.

class Point(object):
  def __init__(self, x, y):
    self.x = float(x)
    self.y = float(y)

def square(x):
  return x * x

def distance_squared(v, w):
  return square(v.x - w.x) + square(v.y - w.y)

def distance_point_segment_squared(p, v, w):
  # Segment length squared, |w-v|^2
  d2 = distance_squared(v, w) 
  if d2 == 0: 
    # v == w, return distance to v
    return distance_squared(p, v)
  # Consider the line extending the segment, parameterized as v + t (w - v).
  # We find projection of point p onto the line.
  # It falls where t = [(p-v) . (w-v)] / |w-v|^2
  t = ((p.x - v.x) * (w.x - v.x) + (p.y - v.y) * (w.y - v.y)) / d2;
  if t < 0:
    # Beyond v end of the segment
    return distance_squared(p, v)
  elif t > 1.0:
    # Beyond w end of the segment
    return distance_squared(p, w)
  else:
    # Projection falls on the segment.
    proj = Point(v.x + t * (w.x - v.x), v.y + t * (w.y - v.y))
    # print proj.x, proj.y
    return distance_squared(p, proj)